Judgment - now there is a word that often seems destined to interfere with your digestion. Few people relish the idea of coming under judgment. Often judgment seems like something less than good news - which is an odd kind of tenson when the phrase that we use to describe the central message of the church is "good news." Is this the way way it is, or is there something we have missed? That's what Jon Paulien explores in the sermon this week.
To listen to the sermon, click here.
There are, of course, times when judgment can be good news. If you are being oppressed by a powerful malignant force, and someone comes to rescue you - judgment is actually good news! This is often the way judgment is thought of in the Old Testament.
But there are also times when judgment is simply about telling the truth. According to John this all comes together at the cross. Here we have a powerful statement (judgment) about sin and what it does - which we see in the events surrounding the cross. But even more, also according to John, for those who are in Christ, judgment in a very significant sense is over. Once we see God as God really is - realizing that God has already absorbed into Himself the worst that sin can do, we are able to come before God, honest about who we really are, because of Who God really is. This is a God Who knows us, and still offers us life, fully absorbing the cost of doing so Himself. Not even sin could stop God from loving us, and nothing now needs to stop us from responding to that love. Living in the realization of that, changes our lives.
Finally, there is also a sense in which judgment is not about deciding who makes it and who doesn't, but a matter of simply showing the evidence of how our lives and the lives of others are different because we have accepted the graciousness of a loving God. It is not about qualifying, but about demonstrating that the love that God poured out into the world, and through people to others, makes a difference. We will not be able to see this fully until the very end (which is why it happens at the end) - but it is then that all will be able to "judge" and see for themselves.
John 3:18-21 (TNIV)
18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God's one and only Son.
19 This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil.
20 All those who do evil hate the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed.
21 But those who live by the truth come into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God.
What insights are the most helpful to you as you reflect on the idea of Judgment?
What sorts of things have been the least helpful to you in sorting this out?
What questions/issues remain that you would like to explore further?